Labor Day weekend is host to dozens of Grand Prix chess tournaments and State Championships across the United States resulting in what the late Jerry Hanken coined "Labor Day Madness." Each year, CLO posts Labor Day round-ups to offer insight into some of America's most vibrant chess communities. See last year's Labor Round-up Part I, Part II and Part III.

Browse below some of the biggest tournaments taking place this weekend. If you are a player, an organizer or just a kibitzer, send your Labor Day chess tale or favorite game to [email protected] for possible CLO publication. Or reach out to our facebook fan page, facebook.com/uschess or twitter, twitter.com/uschess.

IM Irina Krush, Photo Suzy Gorman for CCSCSL

North Carolina
The North Carolina Open takes place from September 2-4th in Charlotte. Award winning writer FM Mike Klein will be covering this event for CLO. He will also contribute a piece to Chess Life Magazine inspired by the North Carolina Open on organizing and growing State Championships. Klein's most recent CLO contribution was on the Charlotte US Chess School.

Organizer Gary Newsom told CLO, "Right now we have 6 GM's and 5 IM's committed to play: GMs Shabalov, Kekelidze, Kachieshvilli, Ftacnik, Zapata and Kudrin and IMs Schroer, Matros, Krush, Esserman and Battaglini. We expect 250 or so in a great venue."

Southern California
The 33rd Annual Southern California Open takes off on Saturday Seoptember 3rd at the Crowne Plaze Hotel in San Diego. The $20,000 guaranteed prize fund has attracted 143 pre-registrants including GM and Olympian Varuzhan Akobian and GM Melikset Khachiyan. Local IM Cyrus Lakdawala will also be conducting free post-game analysis for participants.

New York
The 133rd New York State Championship kicks off Friday September 2nd in Albany, New York. The event is organized by the Continental Chess Association. Find more details on the CCA page including a list of pre-entrants, which includes IM Jay Bonin and defending New York State Champ Aleksandr Ostrovskiy.

Michigan
The 2011 Michigan Open will be held at the McGuires resort in Cadillac, Michigan. Find details on michess.org.
New England Open
The 71st New England Open will be held in Leominster, MA from September 3-5th. Look for details on MassChess.org.
North California
The 2011 Labor Day Chess Festival goes down at the Golden Gateway Holiday Inn in San Francisco. Look for full details on the TLA.
Texas
The 77th Southwest Open is set for Dallas, Texas from Sept. 2-5th. See full details on the Dallas chess club website.
Illinois
The Illionis Open championship will kick off on Sept. 3 in Oakbrook. GMs Mesgen Amanov and IM Angelo Young are scheduled to participate. Find more detials on http://chessforlife.com/
New Jersey
The 65th New Jersey Open Championship stretches from September 3rd to 5th and will be held in Somerset, New Jersey. See full details on the official website http://entryfeesrus.com/

Colorado
The 62nd Colorado Open will be contested from September 3-4 in Greewood Village, Colorado. Find more details on the TLA.
Ohio
The 67th Ohio Chess Congress takes place from Sept 3-5 in Worthington, Ohio. See full details on the TLA.
Louisiana
The 2011 Louisiana State Championship will be held from Sept 3-5 at the Hilton New Orleans Airport. For more info, see the TLA.